FROM THIS EPISODE

Director Jason Reitman sits down with Jason Bentley to discuss a handful of songs that have inspired him throughout his life and contributed to his creative process for Juno and the critically-acclaimed film Thank You For Smoking.

His passion, enthusiasm and knowledge of a variety of music made for some interesting choices. Find out why music is his drug of choice, his soundtrack to crafting a lead character in a dark satire, the lengths he will go to track down a song that gets his attention, and how lo-fi music is the new punk.

Jason Bentley: I'm
Jason Bentley, DJ at KCRW and KCRW.com. Music is an inspiration, and it's not
just for DJs like me, it can inspire the creative process in many ways. I'm
here with the director of the films "Juno" and "Thank You for
Smoking," Jason Reitman, and his laptop. Jason, I'm curious, for you, is
it just something that's an atmospheric thing that's in the background while
you work and for a moment or two you'll notice and then you'll go back to work,
but what is the connection to the music while you do your craft?

Jason Reitman: It's
really important. It’s kind of what gets me in the mood. I think if I had lived
in the 60s and 70s, I would have probably just done a lot of drugs, but I don't
do any drugs, so I require music to get there. When I was actually writing
"Thank You for Smoking"…..I’ll show you this song I used to listen
to. I would actually listen to this every time I would get ready to write
"Thank You for Smoking."

I would listen to this track: Steve Winwood's "I'm a
Man."

Song, Steve Winwood - I'm a Man

Jason Reitman: I wrote
th movie listening to this song, often times in loop, and I always assumed that
the song would get into the movie, but the song didn't get into the movie. By
the time I made the movie, it would have been too on-the-nose. It was the
attitude that was underlying the main character, but it was actually
unnecessary because, tonally, the movie was already doing that without the
song.

Jason Bentley: Music
is magic that way, and I want to talk a little bit about "Juno," and
especially the soundtrack and the process of placing of these songs. Did you
have ideas in place as you were writing or in working in the earliest stages of
the film or did it come after film was being cut or in post-production?

Jason Reitman: Well,
it's interesting, as written Juno's character was in love with hair-metal and,
on the page, that was ironic and funny, but it didn't make sense. It wasn't
real enough for me at the end of the day. It was Mark's character that was always
into grunge, and I wanted something more real for Juno, and at one point I
suggested, couldn't Juno be into punk music? But punk music wasn't going to
work well as a soundtrack for the film because the soundtrack need to be
sweeter. And what we started to realize was that there was this rebirth of
lo-fi music that had the same energy as punk music, but was nowhere as angry. The
first band, a band that I discovered on KCRW, was a band called Yo La Tengo and
so I started to think that was the sound of the film. Particularly, there was
one song that they did, "You Can Have It All"

Jason Bentley: Yo La
Tengo

Song, Yo La Tengo - "You Can Have It All"

Jason Reitman: I
originally thought that song was going to be the opening title sequence, and I
would listen to it over and over, and I actually went to my opening sequence
guys and asked, "How was this going to work?" and actually, the first
time the sequence was presented to me, it was to that song, and we started to
feel out other artists like Belle and Sebastian, trying to find groups where a
boy and a girl were often singing to each other, and then one day Ellen Page
was in my office, and I said, "Who do you think Juno would listen
to?" and she said, "The Moldy Peaches," and I had never heard of
them, and she jumped on my computer and downloaded, "Anyone Else But
You."

Song, The Moldy Peaches - "Anyone But You"

Jason Reitman: And
that became… We decided to close the movie with that with the boy and the girl
singing to each other, which worked a lot better than them singing an 80s hair
metal song to each other. And I got a hold of Kimya Dawson, the singer in the
Moldy Peaches, and said, "Do you have anything else," and she said,
"Oh, yeah," and she sent me six solo albums with like 120 songs, and
it was like opening up an envelope and finding your soundtrack.

Jason Bentley: Now,
this first artist you mentioned was a real obscurity. You had to seek this guy
out and send him a postage-paid envelope and really get him to send you the
song, right?

Jason Reitman: This
was one of the hardest ones to find. His name is Noel Zancanella, and you had
played this track called "Lovely," which WAS lovely, and similar to
what I just explained, I fell in love with it, and it comes in kind of simple…

Fade into song, Noel Zancanella - Lovely

Jason Reitman:. …
and all of a sudden, there's horns, and it's a really sophisticated sound
actually, and when I actually received this track, none of the other sounds
were this sophisticated, and I'm presuming that this is one of those times
where he was just channeling, where all of sudden, you just… it turned out
great, and you have no idea how. That's what I assume, and getting a hold of
this guy was very tough. I think I ended up Googling his name and finding his
website, and there were instructions on his website about sending him a
self-addressed envelope with $15 and you'll get a CD, and it was probably my
most exciting, interactive experience with KCRW where I had truly found
something that I never ever would have found. I would have never stumbled upon
it at a listening station at Tower Records or found it while surfing iTunes. It
simply would otherwise not have existed.

Jason Bentley: We're
here with director Jason Reitman, and we're talking about music that has
inspired him; we're talking about his process in music, editing, directing, and
producing. Tell us your choice number two.

Jason Reitman: This
is an old track, but I believe you played it, … Well, you must have played it
more recently than this because it was released in 1981, but I did hear it on
your show, and it's called "Telephone Rubber Band" by Penguin Café Orchestra.

Song, Penguin
Café Orchestra - Telephone Rubber Band

Jason Bentley: Take us out with one
more, another favorite perhaps.

Jason Reitman: This one is an RJD2
Track, if that's all right.

Jason Bentley: Nice.

Jason Reitman: Okay, it's called
"Good Times Roll" by RJD2.

Song, RJD2 -
Good Times Roll

Jason Reitman: I think you've played
this track before.

Jason Bentley: Yeah. Thank you for
coming down and thanks for listening. It sounds like you've been in the L.A.
area and a listener for a while.

Jason Reitman: I grew up in Los
Angeles, and nothing closes a night better than driving home and listening to
you.